Daly at ease as Dublin consign ‘panicky hurling’ to the past

Composure. Not an attribute often associated with Dublin hurling, certainly not in recent years.

Let’s return to their 2010 qualifier defeat to Antrim, the seven-point lead coughed up to 14-man Clare in 2012 and, indeed, the second half-showing against Cork last summer — prime examples, to borrow Anthony Daly’s phrase, of “panicky hurling”.

Leinster success last July, however, represented a corner turned. League glory was enjoyed a year earlier, but the knock-on effect of league and championship glory are worlds apart.